9. The Detective’s Crime
Detective Carter
In the cold, far end of the cell, he squatted down like a ball. This frightful place was never meant for any human beings. Every now and then, unnerving sniffs and outrageous howls could be heard. The boy himself was abandoned and locked. Everything was gone…
“Hanzel Nelson.”
Finally, in this endless despair, someone called out his name. He did not move a single muscle. Still motionless, he stared down at the ground and breathed hard.
“Hanzel Nelson!” Detective Carter opened the door and entered the cell. The old man was as intolerable as usual. Hanzel remained speechless.
“Did you hear me?”
The boy was dragged forward and smacked. Hanzel choked back the blood in his mouth.
“What?” Hanzel looked up coldly at the detective.
“Look! Another witness!” Detective Carter yelled angrily, walking around in the cell. “More and more people seem to have seen that friend of yours. Witch! Voodoo! All bunk and rubbish! She’s your accomplice, isn’t she? You two must come from some gangs. There’s nothing such as evil art but crime!”
“Detective,” Hanzel claimed plainly. “No matter what you do, I will always tell you the same thing. Margorie’s come back to watch, not to harm.”
“You are insane!” Detective Carter was enraged. In his fury, he snapped the boy’s face.
“Reveal her location and your plan! NOW!”
“Or?”
“Or you will be executed!” Detective Carter threatened. “Tell or die! That woman’s going to be caught anyway!”
“Oh, really.” Hanzel scoffed.
“You, freak!”
Detective exchanged glances with two of his men. The soldiers came to lift Hanzel’s wounded body up and pull him out of the cell.
“What’re you doing?”
“We’ll see.” Detective Carter smiled.
Tied to a chair, Hanzel glared at the most infamous detective in the whole world. He couldn’t help but to think which kind of tricks Detective Carter was going to use upon him this time. To his horror, a little girl was brought to his face.
“What’re you doing?” Hanzel shouted again.
The poor girl was tied by ropes. Apparently, she was some homeless orphan or beggar on the street.
“So I have heard.” Detective Carter grinned. “So much for your bravery and justness.”
“Release her!” Hanzel cried. “She’s innocent! You can’t use an innocent girl to threaten me!”
“Is that so?” Detective Carter raised his brows and ordered the two soldiers to seize the girl’s arms. The girl whimpered.
“Stop it!” Hanzel demanded. “What do you want from me? Don’t hurt her!”
“We want truth from you, Hanzel.” Detective Carter smiled. “You will cooperate with us, right?”
“But I’m telling the truth!” Hanzel insisted. “Margorie told me herself! She said she came back to watch as people die! Those people are meant to die! Earl Beaumont, Prince Eugène, Madam Hernandez and everyone else!”
“Shut up!” Detective Carter bawled. “I don’t know what magic you freaks use! Tell or this girl is going to die!”
“No, Carter!” Hanzel cried just when the soldiers were about to stab the girl with dagger. “I’ll tell!”
“Oh? Finally, you are acting normal.” Detective Carter sat back and crossed his arms.
“I…” Hanzel stammered. “I know how to summon Margorie.”
“Summon! Is she a devil or what?” Detective Carter laughed.
“Listen, I will let you meet her.” Hanzel said. “No, I will bring her to us.”
“You have to be careful with what you promise, Mr. Nelson.” Detective Carter warned. “This girl’s still in my hands. If you fail to make that bitch appear, both of you are dying for sure.”
“Yes…” Hanzel said. “But please, release the girl. I mean…just kill me…”
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that.” Detective Carter smiled. “A missing orphan wouldn’t make much change to the city. I can do anything I want. After all, in their eyes, I am the detective.”
“What a bastard.” Hanzel muttered to himself. This man was without doubt no detective at all. He never had the wisdom to solve any mystery. His power was just a fake fame. His place was a result of noble gift. There were no true talents and intelligence in him. The only thing he managed to do was to extort confessions. Even if the suspect was not guilty, he would be threatened and tortured until he admitted his so-called crime. In other words, Detective Carter was just doing his job, not solving crime.
Somehow, Hanzel felt disgusted having to confront this obnoxious man. He had told him everything he knew and yet, more and more innocents died each day because of him! The detective made use of his strong mind and sense of rightfulness, menacing him by taking the innocents’ life.
As the first beam of light shone into the cell through the gap, Hanzel was brought to outside. He had not been so close to the sun for what seemed like forever and yet, he did not feel a bit relieved. For the second time of his life, he wished and prayed. He remembered the first time he ever prayed was when Margorie was about to be executed. He cried and moaned to God but no one seemed to have answered to his prayer. Perhaps Margorie was right after all. She had always been telling him there was no such thing as God. Still, she had become a demon.
This time, Hanzel prayed to see Margorie. At least once, he hoped his last faith in God was appropriate and worth trying. Or else…
Another innocent life would be forfeited. Because of his powerlessness. Because of him.
“You had better not be lying this time, Nelson.” Detective Carter warned.
“I have never been lying.”
With that, Hanzel got a blow from Detective Carter. Not that he really cared. His body was already wounded to a point that with each step he took, his bones seemed to crack with unendurable pain. He had been tied by chains for so long that he began to find it hard to stretch or straighten his limbs.
Still, he reminded himself such pain was nothing compared to what his lover once suffered. Margorie had gone through false accusation and the cruelest execution present. She had gone through the hell of fire and reborn as a monstrous creature. What on earth could be more painful than her inhuman experience? She was born to be different. She died in a different way. Even now, she was a different creature among all.
“Where was she last seen?” Hanzel asked.
If he had to track Margorie, he at least had to know the place she had last been to.
“Why do you need to know?”
“Only then can I figure out where she might go next.”
“Someone saw her in the Rumble Village last week.” Detective Carter said. “A man and two women died there recently.”
“Huh?”
“Hold on a minute.” Detective Carter flipped through the documents. “Right, the man was a priest, Jesse Lowman. He and his fiancée, Valerie Bailey, died of poison. Their murderer was Valerie’s best friend, Erica Singh. Data said she fell into the well and hit her head.”
“Jesse…” Hanzel widened his eyes incredulously and muttered. “Jesse…is my cousin!”
“Mr. Lowman is your cousin?”
Hanzel nodded.
Hanzel could not believe what he heard. His cousin was dead! Poisoned by his fiancée’s best friend! He remembered visiting them a month ago or so, before Margorie ever appeared. They were still alive and well. But now…
“So, is this another art of your accomplice?” Detective Carter asked.
“What?” Hanzel exclaimed. “But you said Jesse and Valerie died of poison! And Erica died of accident!”
“Well, who knows?” Detective Carter said. “Perhaps it’s all done by Margorie!”
“No, she wouldn’t do that!”
Hanzel was sure of it. He trusted Margorie. Plus, she had met Jesse and Valerie before. They were one of those who treated her particularly wel
l. They even tried to rescue her from the execution. There would be no reason for her to avenge on them, right? And she had frankly told him that her return was to fetch people meant to die. Jesse was just unfortunately caught by such fate.
He made a bet though. If Margorie witnessed Jesse’s death, she might as well be on his funeral or somewhere near. Funeral was one formal ceremony to declare one’s death and it had been reported that she was seen in several funerals before.
“When’s the funeral going to be?” Hanzel inquired.
“Tomorrow morning.” Detective Carter answered.